Showrunner/Writer Steven S. DeKnight and Actors Nick E. Tarabay and Tenika Davis talk to The Inside Reel about physicality, approach, background and context in regards to their new series: "Spartacus: House Of Ashur" on Starz.
00:00But in the arena, we force our own fate with our will, with our hands.
00:25Let's kill this city that we tower above all others.
00:30Underestimate Asher at all peril.
00:39The gods themselves could not cry me loose.
00:45Such a complicated role and so many things go into it.
00:49Physical, emotional, intellectual.
00:51So many things that go into this woman.
00:54Could you talk about where you needed to start beyond the script to find her and how you wanted to play her?
01:02I had to start off just realizing I'm human.
01:07Humans are complex.
01:09We have so many intricacies.
01:12And I believe that all the characters in this show are, you know, exploring different aspects of the human condition.
01:18So that is the first thing I had to really look at my own humanity and places where I have challenges and obstacles that I've had to confront and overcome by any means necessary.
01:32Achillia, you know, is in a very exaggerated world in which, you know, literally she is fighting to the death, you know, to be able to overcome and survive.
01:40But, you know, I think that anybody that's felt like an outsider, an underdog and has had to define themselves in a world where they feel out of place that, you know, doesn't want them will identify with this character because she's in a world of men.
01:55And let's be honest, nobody wants to see a woman, you know, play the type of character that she does in that type of world.
02:03But she finds a way to make herself matter, to make herself shine in that world with resilience, with power, with quick wittedness and with ferocious strength.
02:13So I believe anyone who has any sort of obstacle and wants to know what it feels like to be a hero will identify with this character.
02:25What the fuck?
02:45Ah!
02:45Ah!
02:46Ah!
02:46Ah!
02:47Ah!
02:48Ah!
02:49Ah!
02:50Ah!
02:51Ah!
02:52Ah!
02:53Ah!
02:54move let's see life forfeit the aspect of how these characters move within each other and
03:06obviously with asher you know considering where he came from it's always an interesting thing
03:12how he moves and how his masks can go up and down can you sort of talk about finding that
03:18physicality that emotion motionality but that strategy of him because it has to take on a
03:24whole new form here right that's exactly what it is uh tim again i i i this is all good writing
03:30honestly i'm just that's what it comes down to the the circumstances that was written it puts him in
03:36a place that you have to survive once again so and he has to adapt now when he was dealing with
03:41the gladiators before it was a different kind of strategy but now when you're dealing with the
03:46roman elites oh it's scarier it's really it's a life and death constantly so your mask going on
03:53and off that's that's that's essential and timing is of the essence so you have to be brilliant at
04:00and he has to but i really it's it's it's as simple as this them it's really good writing so it makes
04:06it easy for me to to channel all of that stuff uh so i don't have to dig hard sometimes you work on
04:12shows that you're like ah where do i find this this one was kind of given made it made my it made my
04:18my work much easier
04:20you have been granted the greatest of honor at last grace the sands of the arena
04:31to prove yourselves against the shit proculus and his men
04:35some claim you've been blessed by the gods
04:42the gods they give no shit towards the affairs of men
04:49a thing i have witnessed countless times as a gladiator as a soldier as a free man
04:57you channel her rage her trauma but also her intelligence and how she needs to see
05:02the situation she is in which is perilous at best um could you talk about looking
05:08where you had to find her strengths uh in order to do that especially when she's in the pit
05:14you have to be feral at certain points but then at other points be very very larger than life to tower
05:20over these men yeah she is so it's funny that you should mention that because you're right when she's
05:27in the dirt and she's been knocked to the ground what makes her get back up that's always the
05:33question what makes you get back up so for me it was finding that ferocity and i believe you know
05:40if i was to give her an animal spirit it would be a lion and literally on her costume she has paws
05:45so in that moment it was like if i am a lion what would a lioness do in this moment
05:50fight with everything inside to be able to get the thing that they want and there would be
05:55nothing that stops them so that's literally you know some of the moments that i had to find those
06:02things what makes me get back up when i've been hit to the ground and i believe people fans will
06:07identify with that because they'll be finding their own inner strength through this character
06:11you have been granted the greatest of honor
06:17to grace the sands of the arena
06:22is there any endeavor that does not find you
06:30a failure the house of asher shall wallow in the dirt
06:38they hold that this house and we among it
06:43are lesser who stands to show them what we truly are that is for one behold
06:52a sight never before when this in the arena
06:56but steven actually to go from from what nick was saying the aspect of consequence of action
07:08and the way the different power moves move all around it's even more defined here uh because the
07:15battlefields one thing the back arenas of power are completely different can you talk about fighting
07:21the fire and ice in this with the different ways all the characters have to interact oh yeah that's
07:28one of the things i love about this show and why i wanted to go back to what we did in blood and
07:32sand and gods of the arena with the upstairs downstairs story and the political intrigue
07:38of the city of capua and uh one of the questions i was always asked early on
07:43with uh fans were saying you expect me to root for asher and i said well just you wait
07:48because we're introducing people who are worse the roman elites who see asher as
07:55kind of vacillating between annoyance and a pawn to be used yeah and it was great to roll up our
08:03sleeves and get in there and see how asher combats this uh not just physically but mostly by his wits
08:11perseverance oh yeah we forge our own fate with our hands with our will and with our blood
08:22prove yourselves worthy not to jupiter and his f***ing c*** but to yourselves
08:29and to your dominos
08:34and also your character finds connection with others in there i don't want to give too much away
08:59but like the way she interacts with the syrian the way she interacts with chorus you know it's each
09:05one's a separate thing but she has to you as an actor have to deal with those actors each in an
09:11individual way um and as well as one a father if you will a father figure um that comes in um could you
09:19talk about modulating the way you move because there's a certain movement to her but you can see
09:25her thinking was that just sort of something that you instinctively found primally or was that
09:32something that you worked on and you found it as you went through production you know i think as an
09:37actor we always are exploring our character and discovering aspects about her but in one of the
09:43first scenes she says i am not a slave and that line i took to my heart because i was like she's not
09:49going to move like she's broken like she's a victim like she's any of that there's going to be a
09:53strength and confidence that exudes from her in the way she moves in the way she carries herself
09:58to show that she is not likened to this society and we have to remember she comes from the kush
10:03empire and that is a empire of strong powerful men and women who fought alongside each other
10:11so with that backstory walking into that world now and realizing that she's an outsider and an
10:17underdog she still carries herself with that same regalness of the world she came from
10:21although she may not be in those circumstances so you mentioned asher course all of these other
10:26characters the parallel amongst them is it's asher and achillia are outsiders and underdogs
10:33and they're trying to find themselves in worlds that don't want them
10:37but also to see uh thank you steven to go back to nick i mean you know it's interesting with achillia
10:58but also with chorus and all these things there's the pecking order but the language has to really
11:03play into that it's about inference and not just the words although the words are very important
11:09and very pointed can you talk about that that rhythm the rhythm of him not just verbally but
11:14motion wise when he goes into these places it's a completely when you see him fighting it's one thing
11:20but when you see him actually attacking you know power wise it's completely different can you talk
11:25about that well i mean that's that's one of the things that i really love about but asher
11:29you know it's it's not you know it's not one bill that fits all he he knows how to he knows how to
11:36talk to people he knows he knows per se he sees his things in people i always say that they don't see
11:40them in themselves he knows in episode three he knows how to work with achillia he knows how to
11:45bring something out of her and when he talks with chorus he knows how to get him on board with that
11:51you know he pushes him but not too much just just enough i always thought that was brilliant
11:55about asher how he knows how to work people so to speak when he's dealing with the romans the way
12:02he uses his language and his physical physicality to support that is quite brilliant he's he's a he's
12:09a survivor through and through and he's a very very smart dude he's a very smart he really knows
12:14where he stands at all times and where to push and you'll see in the in the show in episode five even
12:20and on he's really he uses that even more you'll see him how he deals with certain people there's a
12:26character that's being introduced in episode four cornelia caesar's um uh wife his interaction with
12:32her is going to be completely almost different than everybody else's so there's there's that that's
12:36that's always been brilliant about asher
12:38they will never welcome a woman as one of their own i did not ask to be in this house
12:50yet i stand equal as any man within it it is time to embrace your destiny and if the gods will it
12:57to victory
13:02probably an adrenaline especially in being in a series like this it's very technical but you
13:10probably can really get into it can you talk about some of those scenes like especially with
13:15the blades you know the thing is she doesn't need a shield she is rage incarnate could you talk
13:21about finding that energy because to keep bringing it like that is hard for any actor
13:26absolutely so again i did my uh research so the way she holds that stance was something a specific
13:36choice that we had now she comes from the kush empire and they are known for their bow work
13:41so that is the ways that they would fight their wars when they would go against egypt different
13:46you know countries that were powerhouses at the time and so when she finally gets a chance to put
13:51down that shield which is just you know it's anytime you're trying to wear another armor that
13:56is not yours and fight it's clumsy it's clumsy and it's not quite right and that's the way she
14:02enters this world so eventually she starts finding ways to bring in her history into the way she fights
14:08against you know because without that we don't have our unique spin on thing we don't have our power
14:13when we're trying to do something that is not inherently from our world so i believe that
14:20that's what asher sees in her as well too that hey she might be more comfortable doing it another way
14:25let's give her a bit of a chance to do it her way you fought before but not against such as i
14:31the fear that my fall has already been written
Be the first to comment